Testing days in Test Match Cricket – pre Ashes squad selection

I salute you Andrew Strauss, a breath of fresh air to English Cricket.

24 hours is a long time in sports, as news filtered it’s way to the Sky Sports studios, that Ben Stokes & Alex Hales had been arrested in a brawl in the early hours in Bristol at a night club, straight away the journalists were all over it about the possible omission from the Ashes of one of our brightest stars!

Within an hour after being reported on Sky a interview with Andrew Strauss was being shown that he advised selectors to pick the Ashes squad based on ability and form!!

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – JUNE 10 : Ben Stokes of England celebrates with Eoin Morgan after the dismissal of Aaron Finch of Australia during the ICC Champions Trophy match between England and Australia at Edgbaston cricket ground on June 10, 2017 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)

Brilliant! That is exactly what you want to hear from the director of English cricket he’s completely nipped it in the bud, The F.A would have gone about it differently, swept in under the carpet and dealt with it a few years later. Andrew is a credit to the sport of Cricket not only a great Ashes winning captain of England but someone who deals with the Day to Day running of our wonderful game who can deal with issues off the pitch as well..

Being a big football fan as well, I cast my mind back to 1977 when in my opinion and probably a lot of you, the greatest English manager of all time Brian Clough was turned down to manage England by the F.A and Ron Greenwood was given the task the against the nations wishes, a Year and a bit later Clough had steered a mediocre Nottingham Forest to back to back European champions. The F.A hierarchies decision not to offer the job to Clough was the most ridiculous decision and possibly cost us a World Cup it was the decision that stopped me ever going to see the the national side and we have probably never recovered from that as a football nation, if only we had someone like Andrew Strauss on the F.A then!!

I think meetings will take place with Ben & Alex, especially as Ben has been sent home in the past from a Lions tour for late night drinking and missed the T20 World Cup for punching a locker in frustration against a poor loss of form, of course we don’t know the facts of what happened, but Ben is crucial in all forms of English cricket having said that I think Hales is too!

It’s funny I decide to write a blog when there is something to say but this has been a bit like ”hold the front page” as it was meant to be mainly on the Squad for the Ashes!

So I will say ”hold the front page” and write next week on the Ashes squad

There are still a few places left for our magical trip down under, life is for living so why not join us!